Yongsan Korean snack restaurant combo with fish cakes: Hyeonseonine

From Sinyongsan Station to Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch

The exterior and weekend wait

I visited Hyeonseonine, a popular place in Yongsan where there is often a wait. Hyeonseonine is 180 m from Exit 6 of Sinyongsan Station, around a five-minute walk away.

The opening hours for Hyeonseonine Yongsan were posted out front like this. It is famous as a Yongsan spot with a wait, so when we went on the weekend, there was indeed a line. We could conveniently join the waitlist through Catchtable, and the tables turned over fairly quickly, so the wait went down fast.

Inside the restaurant and the menu

Hyeonseonine menu

Here is the menu at Hyeonseonine, a popular Yongsan restaurant.

• Hyeonseonine Combo Set (curly fish cakes): tteokbokki (spice level selectable) + assorted fried items + mini gimbap + sundae + 3 curly fish-cake skewers, ₩26,000 (*fried items cannot be changed)
• Hyeonseonine Set: tteokbokki (spice level selectable) + assorted fried items + mini gimbap + sundae, ₩23,000 (*fried items cannot be changed)
• Baby Set: 1/2 portion tteokbokki (spice level selectable) + 4 fried items (vegetable, seaweed roll, sweet potato, dumpling) + 1/2 portion sundae + 2 gimbap pieces, ₩13,000 (*fried items cannot be changed)
• Sunny Set: tteokbokki (spice level selectable) + assorted fried items + sundae, ₩18,000 (*fried items cannot be changed)
• Instant tteokbokki (for 2): rice cakes, fish cakes, 2 eggs, vegetables, ramen noodles, chewy noodles, and 4 fried dumplings, ₩22,000
• Tteokbokki ₩6,000 / house-made sundae ₩6,500 / 4 mini gimbap ₩5,000
• Curly fish cakes, 1 serving (3 pieces) ₩4,500 / 4 curly fish cakes + 3–4 rice cakes + scallion topping ₩6,000

The combo set and self-service bar

We ordered the Hyeonseonine Combo Set with curly fish cakes. It came with tteokbokki with a selectable spice level, assorted fried items, mini gimbap, sundae, and three curly fish-cake skewers, for ₩26,000.

Basic sides from the self-service bar

Pickled radish, side plates, salt, soy sauce, ladles, and more were available for self-service at the bar.

We brought back the things we needed from the self-service bar.

Trying everything from curly fish cakes to sundae

Bouncy curly fish cakes and rich broth

The fish cakes were nicely cooked with a bouncy texture, and the broth was rich and tasty too.

Assorted fried snacks with seaweed rolls, sweet potato, and dumplings

We could also enjoy a varied assortment of fried snacks, including seaweed rolls, sweet potato, dumplings, and vegetable fritters.

Brothy tteokbokki like the kind sold outside school

The tteokbokki was the brothy kind, and I liked it even more because it tasted like the tteokbokki sold outside schools.

Mini gimbap packed with fillings

There were four mini gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), and they were packed with fillings, so they were more filling than I expected.

Sundae with lung and liver

There was an even mix of bouncy sundae (Korean blood sausage), lung, and liver. Hyeonseonine was a Yongsan Station restaurant with both great value and great flavor.